Choose Your Goals and Train Accordingly I like kettlebell snatches. Only I don’t do too many of them because my workouts already include a lot of overhead work in the form of handstands, presses, barbell snatches, carries, chins, etc. When I throw in too many kettlebell snatches on top of all that my injured, surgically repaired shoulder gets a little flared up. So I’d rather jump rope, push the prowler or run hills like I have since ’84 when Walter Payton inspired me to start doing so. That’s not to say that I won’t do a… continue reading.

Even though my last post ended up being one of the most popular of 2010, and the majority of readers got it, there still seems to be many unanswered questions regarding the topic of conditioning in many people’s minds. Hopefully I can clear those up today. How Important is Conditioning? Conditioning is extremely important. Like Vince Lombardi said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” It can literally be the difference between winning and losing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should train for conditioning in the weight room. If you’re an athlete how much… continue reading.

How do you start your day each morning? Do you angrily smash the alarm clock and roll out of bed exhausted, dreading another day doing what you hate? Or do you spring up fresh and well rested because you went to sleep before 11pm like you know you should, and get excited to tackle another day doing what you love? What about your workout regimen? Do you do focus on big compound lifts, bodyweight exercises, strongman training or do you take the easy way out? Do you keep a detailed log book and track your progress week after… continue reading.

I just wanted to take a quick minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and sincerely thank you all very much. Thank you for visiting the site on a regular basis and supporting what I do. It’s because of you guys that I get to do what I love every day. Immersing myself in physical culture and helping people are my biggest passions in life. And to be able to combine the two and make a living doing it is truly a dream come true. Over the last year this here blog has grown to be one of the most… continue reading.

Here’s a delicious, healthy, raw dessert from our brand new plant based recipe guide that some of you may want to try out for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. This couldn’t be any simpler to make and won’t take you more than five minutes. Ingredients •    2 bananas •    ½ cup dates •    ¼ cup carob or cocoa powder •    2 tbsp coconut oil Directions Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Let chill in refrigerator for 60 minutes before serving. If you wanted… continue reading.

What up, Renegades? Now, normally when you click on this here site there’s a certain stank that infiltrates your nostrils immediately. It’s the scent of manliness and testicular fortitude that just oozes out of my pores on a daily basis. I can’t help it. But if you’ve noticed an extra strong scent of testosterone around here this week it’s because of the presence of my friend,  Sean Hyson. Fueled by grass fed steaks, raw milk and the spirit of the late, great Road Warrior Hawk,  Sean’s back today for the third and final part of our trilogy… JF: As… continue reading.

JF: So, what about staying motivated, getting up and walking on an empty stomach, running sprints when you might not have felt like it, training on low carbs… Do you have any tricks you use to keep you motivated or anything you can share that can help those who lack motivation? Or is that concept foreign to you because it’s never a problem you could imagine having? SH: I started the transformation in late February, so I was sprinting outdoors (sometimes while it was snowing), and usually at night after work. Sure, I was tired from the… continue reading.

Today I have an interview I recently conducted with my brother-from-another-mother, fellow music lover and Seinfeld quoting, old school physical culture obsessed, first class gem of a human being, the lovely and talented…  Sean Hyson. You may know Sean as the fitness editor of Men’s Fitness Magazine and may have seen his incredible before and after transformation pics. Today we’re going to get to know a little bit more about the man himself. I was going to have  him conduct the entire interview in his dead on, Christopher Walken impression but then I remembered you would be reading it, not… continue reading.

Well, it’s that time of year again;  time for my annual Holiday Fitness Gift List. “Aaaaah… Hey! If any of you are looking for any last minute gift ideas for me, I have one…” Actually I have 13. This year I picked out 13 killer gifts that any fitness enthusiast or member of the Renegade Nation would be thrilled to receive. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Climbing Rope– If you want to train Renegade Style you have to have a climbing rope. I honestly can’t think of too many more effective exercises than rope climbing. Your grip/forearms, lats and abs will… continue reading.

Every Sunday of the fall Jen and I start the day with a trip to the farmers market before the football pregame shows start (I’ve grown partial to the two hour pregame show on ESPN, as opposed the ones on Fox and CBS, the last few years). As soon as we get back football goes on and we get started on our one “junk food” cheat day of the week. That doesn’t mean that we start eating processed or fake foods or a ton of sugar or anything like that. But we do splurge on some healthy… continue reading.

1) Always Start Too Easy Whenever you have a new client always start them out with easy exercises and light weights. If you do group training have them do the easiest progression of whatever the rest of the more advanced members of the group are doing. Any nitwit can create a hard workout. That doesn’t make it effective, though. You don’t want them struggling or getting down on themselves or thinking that your training is too hard. Nor do you want them throwing up during their first session or getting too sore from it. 2) Don’t Introduce Too Many Complicated… continue reading.

Jen set a new PR on chin ups this week, beating her old max of 13 by four reps (17). We determined that her strength endurance was good but in order to bring up her numbers we would need to improve her explosiveness and maximal strength. Over the last few months we’ve had her do nothing but low reps on chin ups. Except for the rare sets of five we haven’t gone above three in quite a while. Basically we worked on maximal strength and speed. She would often do twenty explosive singles, 8-12 doubles, or ten triples as… continue reading.

So I know I said the Minimalism series was coming to an end. But low and behold, I’m back with yet another installment. In case you missed any of the first five parts check them out by clicking on the appropriate links below. Part 1 Part 2: Exercise Selection Part 3: Nutrition Part 4: Supplements Part 5: Meal Frequency If I could go back 23 years and start my training all over again one of the biggest things I’d do would be eliminate any and all support gear. First on that list would be a… continue reading.

How many meals a day do you need to build muscle? It’s a question asked by everyone who starts strength training for the first time. We’ve all heard or read that you need to eat 5-6 meals per day. But who has the time or desire to do that? Surely no one who works or has a social life. Sounds like a real pain-in-the-ass nightmare if you ask me. I’m a big fan simplicity and minimalism. It’s liberating and gives you a sense of freedom. Ya know, the kind of freedom that comes from having to prepare meals every… continue reading.

Minimalist Nutrition Made Easy First of all, you need to find your local farmers markets. Not only are these cheaper than the grocery stores but the food is healthier. And they have the only foods most people should be eating, anyway. There will always be a local farmer there selling every kind of meat you could ever want. The best part is it’s all grass fed, free roaming, drug, hormone and disease free, top quality meat. Any type of meat you buy on the cheap at the local supermarket is laden with drugs, grains, diseases and poor fatty acid profiles. continue reading.